Freely mounted gear

ABSTRACT

A ring gear arrangement providing an uninterrupted source of power for mechanical and electrical applications. This arrangement consists primarily of a toothed ring supported in rolling engagement with rotatable bearings positioned in an equally spaced apart relationship with each other, the bearings being supported upon a plate or the like.

llniteol States Patent [191 Moody I FREELY MOUNTED GEAR [76] Inventor:Robert E. Moody, 7202 Gammage,

Houston, Tex. 77017 [22] Filed: July 6, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 269,303

[521 11.8. CI... 74/410, 74/413 [51! Int. Cl. Fl6h 57/00, F16h 1/20 [58]Field of Search 74/410, 413, 332

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,884,287 4/1959 Sommcr74/410 X 3,430,509 3/1969 Couris 74/413 Jan. 1,1974

3,461,735 8/1969 Durand 74/410 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 415,0858/1934 Great Britain 74/413 Primary ExaminerLeonard H. Gerin [57]ABSTRACT A ring gear arrangement providing an uninterrupted source ofpower for mechanical and electrical applications. This arrangementconsists primarily of a toothed ring supported in rolling engagementwith rotatable bearings positioned in an equally spaced apartrelationship with each other, the bearings being supported upon a plateor the like.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures FREELY MOUNTED GEAR This invention relates togear trains, and more particularly to a freely mounted gear.

It is therefore the primary purpose of this invention to provide afreely mounted gear which will be for use directly in a train of poweror may be used as an auxiliary gearing arrangement.

Another object of this invention is to provide a freely mounted geararrangement which will have ring gear grooved for rolling engagement andsupport upon a plurality of equally spaced apart bearings, the bearingsproviding smooth and precise rotation and alignment for the arrangement.

Another object of this invention is to provide an arrangement of thetype described, which will have teeth for engagement with the teeth ofother gears, such as sun and planetary arrangements.

A further object of this invention is to provide an arrangement of thetype described, which will have the bearing members supported upon shaftmeans extending from a plate or other member of the gear train.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an arrangementwhich may be adapted for receiving the teeth of other gears from thefaces of the ring gear as well as from the gear means on the outerperipheral and inner peripheral toothed areas of the gear.

An even further object of this invention is to provide a gearingarrangement which may be supported upon a dual bearing arrangement, thearrangement being adapted for the races of the bearings to be in rollingengagement with the beveled faces of a ring gear.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide a freely mountedgear which is simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture, rugged inconstruction, easy to use and efficient in operation.

These and other objects will be readily evident upon a study of thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a face view of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken along the line 2-2 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary face view showing a modified form of ring gear;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary face view showing a modified form of bearingmounting; and

FIG. 5 is an end view of a fragmentary ring gear showing anothermodified form of bearing mounting.

According to this invention, a freely mounted gear is shown to include alarge ring 11 having a plurality of equally spaced apart teeth 12 on itsinner periphery, the teeth 12 being in engagement with the outerperipheral teeth 13 of gear 14 which is mounted upon shaft 15. The teeth13 of gear 14 are in engagement with the outer peripheral teeth 16 ofgear 17 which is mounted to shaft 18.

Looking now more particularly to FIG. 2 of the drawing, one will seethat the ring 1 l is provided with an annular groove 19 in which theouter race 20 of bearing 21 is in rolling engagement there with. Theinner race 22 of bearings 21 is supported upon shaft 23 extending fromthe member 24.

It shall further be noted that bearings 21 are equally spaced apart soas to provide even support of ring 11 so as to enable it to remainaligned and free to rotate, the bearings 21 serving to support the ring11 entirely.

Referring now more particularly to a FIG. 3 of the drawing, one will seea modified ring 25 having peripheral outer teeth 26 and inner peripheralteeth 27, the face having openings 28 for receiving gear teeth (notshown).

Referring now to FIG. 4 of the drawing, one will see a modified ring 11'having internal teeth 12, the ring 11 having an annular and innerperipheral groove 29 which is in rolling engagement with bearing 21.

As will be seen in FIG. 5 of the drawing, a modified bearing mountingarrangement 30 shows angularly spaced apart bearings 31 which aresupported on shafts 32 mounted to member 33. The outer races 34 ofbearings 31 are in engagement with the beveled face portions 35 of themodified ring 11".

What I now claim is:

l. A freely mounted gear arrangement, comprising in combination, a largediameter ring having gear teeth on an inner periphery thereof thatengage teeth on an outer periphery of a smaller diameter gear which alsoengages a third gear mounted upon a shaft, a plurality of spaced apartbearing means engaging an outer periphery of said ring for supporting analigning said ring respective to the second gear, said ring having aface on at least one side thereof, said face having a circular row ofopenings so to form teeth therebetween and which are engageable by yetanother or fourth gear, said ring an angularly inclined face between thefirst said face and an outer periphery of said ring, said angularlyinclined face being at right angle to a second angularly inclined faceon an opposite side of said peripheral edge, said angularly inclinedfaces each being engaged by said spaced apart bearing means, each one ofsaid bearing means comprising a circular wheel supported rotatably on ashaft, said shafts being mounted at right angle to each other on asupporting member, and each wheel having an outer race that engages saiddiagonally inclined face of said ring.

1. A freely mounted gear arrangement, comprising in combination, a largediameter ring having gear teeth on an inner periphery thereof thatengage teeth on an outer periphery of a smaller diameter gear which alsoengages a third gear mounted upon a shaft, a plurality of spaced apartbearing means engaging an outer periphery of said ring for supporting analigning said ring respective to the second gear, said ring having aface on at least one side thereof, said face having a circular row ofopenings so to form teeth therebetween and which are engageable by yetanother or fourth gear, said ring an angularly inclined face between thefirst said face and an outer periphery of said ring, said angularlyinclined face being at right angle to a second angularly inclined faceon an opposite side of said peripheral edge, said angularly inclinedfaces each being engaged by said spaced apart bearing means, each one ofsaid bearing means comprising a circular wheel supported rotatably on ashaft, said shafts being mounted at right angle to each other on asupporting member, and each wheel having an outer race that engages saiddiagonally inclined face of said ring.